by Gold Coast Bulletin Real estate columnist and host of the Lifestyle Channel’s Selling Houses Australia Andrew Winter
ONE element of property that never fails to fascinate me is the pure variety, even with similar homes in the same suburb.
Get in the front door, or out in the backyard, and you never know what you will find.
This uniqueness can bring many benefits when it comes time to sell — the stylish decoration, the extra bathroom, added character, or the unexpected views and gorgeous inground pool.
Even the latest fittings or high ceilings … whatever it is, these positive elements are a joy to agents who use these very features to promote the property and create buyer interest.
So what if that unique aspect is something that is not so positive?
After 25 years in real estate, which includes 11 years doing the Selling Houses television show, I cannot think of a negative element in a property that I haven’t yet seen, or had to deal with.
Actually, I do confess I have yet to deal with a home shaken by an earthquake, a tsunami, a cyclone, or worse, a home that has enjoyed interior design by a lover of leopard-skin print mixed with Barbie doll pink with diamantes and chintz everywhere. But I guess it is only a matter of time.
The more common negatives are the main road or motorway, front or back, the railway line shaking your backyard fence, the flight path above, the electricity pylon gently humming by your al fresco area. Then there is your top-floor unit with no lift, your neighbour’s house that looks like a likely candidate for the TV show Hoarders Buried Alive, the termite infestation, the lack of car parking or the new industrial area being developed across the street.
All these negatives are the scary ones as they are the ones you have no control over. But does this mean all these properties never sell?
Well they may take longer but they do sell. In fact, someone bought them in the first place.
If you are the proud owner of one of these unique homes and you want to sell, what do you do? Firstly, establish if there is anything you can do to reduce or partially reduce the impact of negative features.
This might be double-glazing windows to counteract noise, adding mature trees or shrubs to screen an unattractive aspect or neighbour, or a call to the council about your neighbour (not popular, but desperate times call for desperate measures).
But what if there is nothing that can be done about the lack of car parking or the unit with no lift? This calls for emergency action and some lateral thinking. No parking? Try to secure a price and somewhere a buyer could park. No lift? Ensure your asking price allows for the lack of this amenity and/or how it ensures the strata fees are lower. Perhaps your home has a structural defect you cannot afford to address. Ensure you know what is really wrong — don’t guess — and get the repairs costed.
With any negative outside of your control, face it head on. You should never bury your head in the house-selling sand. If you take control and acknowledge what is wrong you will be on your way to a sale.
And in my experience this means that when you are marketing a home with a clear negative, make sure you are upfront and mention it in the marketing campaign.
There is nothing worse than a potential buyer turning up to an inspection only to discover that undisclosed motorway frontage. Yes, this disclosure can reduce the inspection numbers but in my experience it has a very positive effect.
A forewarned buyer has had a chance to deal with the issue to a certain extent and may not spend all their time focusing on the bad points but consider the good points too when inspecting.
The wording in your online and print advertisement is vital. Don’t be so harsh you scare every one away, but I find starting with all the plus points, then mentioning the negative followed by a “however” is the trick to letting buyers know without having them move on to the next negative-free listing.
Price, of course, is the all-round leveller.
Cheap enough makes almost all negatives disappear. But before you give your home away, make sure you address those negatives and be upfront with the marketing and you could be pleasantly surprised.
